Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 346-366). Also available on the Internet.

published_or_final_version / English Studies and Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Philosophy

As argued throughout this thesis, in his personification of the federal story, if not immediately in his formulation of its paternity, Deakin’s unpublished memoirs anticipated the way that federation became codified in public memory. The long and tortuous process of federation was rendered intelligible by turning it into a narrative set around a series of key events. For coherence and dramatic momentum the narrative dwelt on the activities of, and words of, several notable figures. To explain the complex issues at stake it relied on memorable metaphors, images and descriptions. Analyses of class, citizenship, or the industrial confrontations of the 1890s, are given little or no coverage in Deakinite accounts. Collectively, these accounts are told in the words of the victors, presented in the images of the victors, clothed in the prejudices and predilections of the victors, while the losers are largely excluded. Those who spoke out against or doubted the suitability of the constitution, for whatever reason, have largely been removed from the dominant accounts of constitution-making. More often than not they have been ‘character assassinated’ or held up to public ridicule by Alfred Deakin, the master narrator of the Conventions and federation movement and by his latter-day disciples. Those who opposed Deakin I have labelled anti-Deakinites. To anti-Deakinites, the journey to federation was characterised by compromises and concessions that reflected or produced a series of exclusions (of individuals, groups and ideas) from Deakinite stories of federation, often for reasons of political exigency. They acknowledge that compromises had to be made in bringing about federation. Men with a national viewpoint they believe, often acquiesced to states’ rights men whose primary interest was a good deal for their state or colony. Anti-Deakinites are critical of the heroes in Deakinite accounts (of the Ultra-Federalists) believing that these men would have federated any time after 1891 with an undemocratic and illiberal constitution. Events that were to influence the course of Australian history took place during the 1880-90s. Yet the dominant accounts of constitution-making do not acknowledge the context within which the constitution was written. It is difficult denying that these must have influenced the Constitution-makers as they began their work in 1891. The central claim of my thesis is that many accounts of Australian constitution-making and federation have been selective in their descriptions of the events and the organisations and individuals involved, leading to the misrepresentation of these seminal episodes in Australian history. This misrepresentation has occurred as a consequence of the privileging of, what I label, the Deakinite account of constitution-making and federation over all others.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis argues that the contemporary fantasy fiction of Gregory Maguire is indicative of a particular form of myth making that occurs in narrative form in contemporary culture. In choosing to re-imagine existing narratives that already have recognisable cultural significance, Maguire's particular engagement with this process illuminates the power of narrative to affect individuals on an emotional level as well as the values of society. In examining the interactions between theories of myth, intertextuality, and fantasy this thesis proposes to interrogate both the status of these narratives as cultural myths, and the phenomena of re-making myth in contemporary fiction. The aim is to examine this pattern of perpetuation and transformation of myth, specifically in the area of contemporary fantasy literature. The particular changes that Maguire makes in the transformation of the myths in question are indicative of broader cultural and social trends and, in some cases, go beyond merely documenting these shifts in the values of society to actually playing a part in enforcing these changes. That this pattern has found its continuation in modern fantasy literature is shown through the analysis and through comparisons between Maguire's myth-making that of other contemporary fantasy writers. This addresses questions of the importance of fantasy literature in the perpetuation of myth in modernity, something that some areas of myth criticism have struggled to account for and occasionally to recognise. It does so by close examination of the parent myths that Maguire chooses to re-imagine, and the ways in which his approach to intertextuality offers those particular mythic narratives new life in contemporary culture.

N/A / Thesis / Bachelor of Divinity (BD)

The primary aim of the study is to make a contribution to the discipline of myth theory, or mythology, within the academic field of enquiry of media studies. To this end, the first part of the study comprises a literature review of relevant myth theory, during which the quantitative disparity on myth theory, between myth literature describing dominant myth and that dealing with counter myth, is highlighted. In order to address the comparatively smaller amount of theory concerned with counter myth, the study proceeds to theorise the semiotic technical functions of counter myth, the socio-political functions of counter myth and examines the social values and dangers of counter myth in society. Furthermore, counter myth is considered with regard to media framing, the relationship between counter myth and political myth is addressed, and the characteristics and criteria of counter myth are outlined. In keeping with the main purpose of the study, which is to provide a new contribution to myth theory, the theoretical problematics of the definition and classification of both myth and counter myth is confronted, and mechanisms for contending with these theoretical difficulties are suggested. A theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth on film is developed, which is based on the theorisation of counter myth performed in the literature study. In the second part of the study this theoretical framework is applied to a sample of purposefully selected post apartheid South African history films as a case study. The primary purpose of this case study is to serve as a demonstration of how the theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth can be put to use in the critical analysis of media texts, in this study applied to film (as a mediated text). The secondary purpose of the case study is to examine a selection of post apartheid South African counter myths, which explicitly work to remythologise the collective social identity construction of the white South African, in the post 1994 socio-political environment. In this way, the study demonstrates how myth and counter myth may facilitate identity (re)construction during and after a period of societal upheaval or transformation. / Communication Science / (D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science))

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2003. / Advisor: Alvin A. Lee. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-288). Also available via World Wide Web.

The primary aim of the study is to make a contribution to the discipline of myth theory, or mythology, within the academic field of enquiry of media studies. To this end, the first part of the study comprises a literature review of relevant myth theory, during which the quantitative disparity on myth theory, between myth literature describing dominant myth and that dealing with counter myth, is highlighted. In order to address the comparatively smaller amount of theory concerned with counter myth, the study proceeds to theorise the semiotic technical functions of counter myth, the socio-political functions of counter myth and examines the social values and dangers of counter myth in society. Furthermore, counter myth is considered with regard to media framing, the relationship between counter myth and political myth is addressed, and the characteristics and criteria of counter myth are outlined. In keeping with the main purpose of the study, which is to provide a new contribution to myth theory, the theoretical problematics of the definition and classification of both myth and counter myth is confronted, and mechanisms for contending with these theoretical difficulties are suggested. A theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth on film is developed, which is based on the theorisation of counter myth performed in the literature study. In the second part of the study this theoretical framework is applied to a sample of purposefully selected post apartheid South African history films as a case study. The primary purpose of this case study is to serve as a demonstration of how the theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth can be put to use in the critical analysis of media texts, in this study applied to film (as a mediated text). The secondary purpose of the case study is to examine a selection of post apartheid South African counter myths, which explicitly work to remythologise the collective social identity construction of the white South African, in the post 1994 socio-political environment. In this way, the study demonstrates how myth and counter myth may facilitate identity (re)construction during and after a period of societal upheaval or transformation. / Communication Science / (D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science))

No description available.